The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress on Monday said the statewide bandh (shutdown) called over Lakhimpur Kheri violence is 100 per cent successful and added that people have shown their anger against the killing of the farmers.

Sanjay Raut, the leader of one of the three constituents of ruling MVA in Maharashtra, questioned the people opposing the shutdown. “Bandh in state is 100 per cent successful. People have shown their anger against the incident of mowing down the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. If someone is opposing this Maharashtra Bandh then they must ask themselves if they are citizens of this country,” he added.

Echoing similar sentiments, Nawab Malik, the leader of another MVA constituent Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said, “All the major political parties, organizations and labour unions have supported the Maharashtra Bandh. Our bandh is successful. We have been making appeals to avoid any sort of violence,” he added.

Another NCP leader Jayant Patil alleged that the BJP government neglected the farmers’ protest at the borders of Delhi, but Lakhimpur incident is a “clear murder”. “They (the four farmers) were killed by a BJP minister’s son. It appears that BJP wants to crush the farmers’ agitation and to condemn the incident we have called this bandh. BJP has unfortunately opposed it. It means they are supporting those who have murdered the farmers by mowing them down,” he added.

NCP leader Supriya Sule along with party workers participated in a protest during Maharashtra Bandh at Hutatma Chowk in Mumbai. “We have called this bandh against the murder of the farmers. If you watch the video, you will get goosebumps even today. Have you ever seen such a cruelty? It was a cruel incident. Condemning the incident will not be enough and he (Ashish Mishra) should be brought to justice. MoS Ajay Mishra should have resigned from his position by taking moral responsibility of the incident,” she added.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrakant Patil said that the ruling parties in the state are trying to reap political mileage by giving the bandh call for what happened in Uttar Pradeeh. “We condemn it as it has posed a hardship to the general public. Instead of observing a bandh, the state government should first give relief to the farmers affected due to the floodings in Marathwada and Vidarbha recently. The state government has done nothing except tall assurances for them,” he added.

The bandh affected the commuters in the morning rush hour in Mumbai and neighbouring areas as bus services were stalled and most of the shops and commercial establishments remained closed. “I have to go to my office and I am waiting for the bus here for the last half an hour,” a commuter told news agency ANI.

As many as eight people, including four farmers, died in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. The farmers claim that a vehicle from Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish ran over some protesters who were coming back after an agitation over Centre’s farm laws. On Saturday night, Ashish Mishra was arrested by the police.